


The four times Dylan helped his team and the one time they helped him

by oswin42



Category: Now You See Me (Movies)
Genre: 4+1, Gen, Horsemen, Magic, Magic Tricks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-07-18 06:18:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7302952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oswin42/pseuds/oswin42
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short set of stories of Dylan helping the crew out and the crew helping out Dylan. </p><p>Not beta read!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Jack

"Dylan?" Jack asked just as Dylan had taken a slightly too big bite of his spaghetti. The five horsemen were sitting at a round table in big kitchen/living/dining room somewhere in a house just outside London.  
"Yeah?" Dylan asked after a few moments of chewing and swallowing.  
"I... Uh" Jack started "would like your help on a trick I've been working on."  
Dylan smiled "I'd love to help!"  
Jack smiled as well "great. I'll show you after?"

Jack always felt most at home with sleight of hand tricks. His best tricks were always cards or occasionally coins. Lock picking came second in his skillset. Less useful as a close up magician, but very useful if you're skint and looking for a place to stay. He knew how to pick a simple lock and he knew how to get out of handcuffs, but that was about it.

Jack had found an interesting book in the eye's big collection of magic books. In that book they mentioned a trick called 100 feet rope escape. The book gave him a few pointers but most of it was just practice. Jack wasn't quite ready to ask Daniel or Merritt to tie him up just yet.

"So," Dylan said as he came into jacks room after dinner "what's this trick then?"  
Jack picked up the neatly coiled 100 feet of rope from the wooden IKEA chair. Dylan chuckled softly, more surprised than mocking. "Ah."  
"Yeah" Jack replied awkwardly  
"Well, go ahead."  
"I haven't exactly worked on presentation either," Jack admitted "I wanted to know if I'm any good first.”  
"Well then," Dylan said with a grin "do sit down."

It certainly wasn't the first time Dylan had tied anyone up Jack thought as he watched Dylan tie his legs to the chair. Jack kept his muscles tensed up like the book had told him. Next Dylan moved on to his chest. Deep breath in and then calm breaths Jack reminded himself. Dylan was focussed on the knot he was tying on Jacks chest. Dylan was close to him, very close. Jack could smell Dylan's shampoo. Jacks breath caught a little, but just at that moment Dylan moved to the back and started tying Jacks hands together. This was the hardest part of it all, but at the same time the part Jack knew most about. He payed careful attention to how everything felt and which knots Dylan was using. This wasn't going to be easy.  
"I'm done." Dylan said as he finally stepped back. Jack was tied to the chair with almost all of the 100 feet of rope.  
"Ready Jack?" Dylan asked while holding the stopwatch. Jack nodded.  
"3, 2, 1, go."  
Jack immediately exhaled harsly and relaxed his muscles. The ropes went slack at most places. Jack closed his eyes and started working on the knot near his wrists. It took him almost a full minute, Dylan hadn't made it easy, but then he managed to pull one of his hands free. His other hand came free seconds later. Now it was just about maneuvering out of the ropes. It took a while to find the right movements but he managed to crawl out of the restraints and stood triumphantly. He was out of breath but the proud expression on Dylan's face made it very much worth it.  
"Well done Jack." He beamed.  
Jack smiled proudly in return  
"Just keep practicing" Dylan said as he patted Jack on his shoulder and left the man's room.

 


	2. Lula

All the horsemen had taken too the library of the eye, but non as much as Lula had. She was a surprisingly fast reader and very skilled in multitasking. You'd see her reading a book and practicing with her other hand or reading while eating (often flavoured yogurt, her favorite snack). She'd have this notebook next to her and scribble the occasional idea or note in there. Jack had nicked it from her once because he was curious. He'd opened it up, only to find that instead of the cute handwriting he had expected there were only unreadable scribbles. Merritt had caught on at that moment and tried to read it as well. Neither of them could make out what she had written. Even Danny, who'd caught on a few seconds after Merritt, couldn't read it. Just as they stood there looking at it, Lula spoke without looking up from her book.  
"I'd like my notebook back now, boys."  
Jack quickly moved it behind his back  
"I don't know what you're talking about!" He said a little too defensively.  
"Like I wouldn't notice you taking it. Hand it back please." Her tone was never unfriendly but conveyed very well that they'd regret it if they didn't give it back. Jack pouted and handed the notebook back. Lula took it and made another scribbled note in it.

"Dylan?" Lula asked just as Dylan came into the kitchen. Lula was sitting at the kitchen table with a book and practicing making a coin walk over her fingers.  
"Yes?" Dylan asked as he started making tea.  
"Do you think my presentation is weird?"  
Dylan blinked. He hadn’t really seen this coming from her, she usually seemed confident about her skills. He poured tea into a second cup next to his own and sat down at the kitchen table as well. He put the second cup of tea in front of her and sipped his own before answering.  
"It's a very different branch of magic than what most are used to, especially in the community, but styles come and go. You don't really see people do spirit cabinets anymore, but they used to be hugely popular."  
"And what if I want to do more traditional magic?"  
"If that's what you really want, you should, but you shouldn't change because the others don't share your sense of humor."  
Lula looked at the cup of tea and then took a long sip.  
"I've been working on a trick." She said slowly.  
"Tell me about it?" Dylan encouraged with a soft smile.  
"You know how the maskelynes did these short plays in their shows? Wouldn't it be cool to bring it back but in a modern way?"  
"Something tells me you've got it pretty much worked out." Dylan said with a grin.  
Lula smiled "kinda. Yeah." She said as she took out her notebook and flipped through it.  
"It's a story where everything goes 'wrong' with the main character. All these things disappear into nowhere and this guy tries to take the last thing so he holds onto his hand but then she accidentally pulls his hand of with the last thing of hers that he's holding.”  
Dylan chuckles softly, finding it very funny "go on."  
"She refuses to give the hand back and a police officer arrives. He insists that she'll give the man his hand back and threatens to arrest her. He shows her the handcuffs for this. she offers the hand of the thief to the police officer. The police officer uses this moment to put handcuffs on her and the man gets the hand back, only she has already taken the handcuffs off and handcuffed the man and the police officer together and she dashes off."  
Dylan smiled "that sounds good. So who do you have in mind for the different roles?"  
"Danny's the annoying man and you're the cop. Obviously."  
Dylan laughed "sounds about right." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder that this fic is not beta read and could contain some mistakes


	3. Merritt

Dylan walked from his bedroom to the kitchen. It was a rainy afternoon and Dylan had just spent the whole morning and the better part of the afternoon practicing his sleight of hand. He was hungry. Just as he put the first foot on the stairs and wondered what the others were doing he heard a door open.  
"Dylan?" Merritt asked quietly  
"Yeah?"  
"Could you, uh, Could you help me?" Merritt asked. He didn't much like asking for help.   
"Yeah sure." Dylan said with a smile. He took his foot of the first step and walked to Merritt's room.   
Merritt's room was usually tidy, but not so much today. There were cards from approximately three decks laying everywhere in the room except for in the target that he'd set up.   
Dylan patted Merritt on his shoulder with a compassionate, though slightly amused, smile.   
"Still nothing?"   
"Jack gave up on me."   
"Here" Dylan said as he picked up a few cards "let me teach you?"  
Merritt was skeptical but didn't protest. Dylan moved closer after picking up several more cards.   
"Think about throwing a football" Dylan started. He showed the pose and Merritt mirrored it.   
"Almost." Dylan said and prodded Merritt until he was standing the right way.   
"So now," Dylan said as he took a card in his hand "you hold the card like this." He showed Merritt, and again Merritt copied.   
"Now you move your whole arm back like this" Dylan showed the movement while speaking "and you let the card rotate with your hand." Dylan showed the movement in slow-motion. Merritt followed. He frowned in concentration.  
"Try it." Dylan suggested.   
Merritt threw the card. It was certainly one of Merritt's better throws but still not very good. It had a bit of spin and landed on top of the closet.  
Dylan smiled "not bad! Just try to relax your wrist a bit more. Like this."   
Dylan threw the card into the middle of the target.  
"And how long did it take you to learn that?" Merritt asked  
Dylan thought for a long moment "I think I spent over 20 hours practicing until I could sort of do this."  
"Ah."   
"You didn't exactly tell jack that you didn't practice."  
Merritt sort of shrugged with one shoulder. He tried to be casual but failed at it.   
"Practice makes perfect. As you should know."  
"Yeah."   
"Go on, give it another go." Dylan encouraged. Merritt threw the card. It hit the target, but didn't stick in it. Nonetheless Merritt had a huge smile on his face.   
"Well done." Dylan said with his own proud smile.   
Merritt began picking up cards off the floor and practicing. His second and third throw were about the same as the first. The fourth stuck into the target for a second. Dylan snuck quietly out the room, leaving Merritt practicing with a huge grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder that this fic isn't beta read and could contain some mistakes.


	4. Dann

Danny had silently (and not so silently) observed Merritt do his hypnosis. He knew all the theory there was to know. He tried to covertly practice on Lula. He'd drop his voice slightly and tried to softly bring her into a trance, only to be interrupted by Merritt's bouldering laughter and followed by Lula slapping him. He tried to practice on Jack when Merritt wasn't around, but Jack didn't even seem to notice.  
So instead Danny sulked and practiced his other stuff as much as possible.

One night Dylan couldn't quite sleep and he wandered to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea or some warm milk when he ran into Danny, who was surrounded with about 8 books on hypnotism around him at the dining table. Danny didn't acknowledge him so Dylan silently made two cups of warm milk with honey and sat opposite Danny. He pushed one of the cups forward into Danny's eyesight. Danny looked up and saw Dylan sitting there in his FBI t-shirt.  
"Oh hi."  
"Bullshit Danny. You saw me the moment I came in."  
"Come to make fun of me, have you?" Danny snapped  
"No. No! Of course not."  
Dylan sighed and took a sip of his warm milk. He focussed on the feeling for a moment before turning back to Danny "try it. It's good."  
Danny gave Dylan an annoyed look but took a sip of his warm milk.  
"Why does it bother you?" Dylan asked  
"I lead this team. I'm supposed to be good at everything!"  
"So it has nothing to do with Merritt teasing you?"  
"No. Well, maybe a little."  
"Look if it means that much, why don't you practice on me?"  
Danny blinked "you'd do that?"  
"Sure. Might help me sleep too."  
Danny smiled thankfully at Dylan "you want to go sit on the couch?"  
"Yeah sounds like a good idea."  
Dylan got up, drank his milk and sat down on the couch. Danny sat next to him. He took a deep breath and started talking  
"When I count down from ten you'll notice your eyes start to feel heavier and heavier and by the time I reach one you simply can't keep them open anymore. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6."  
Dylan blinked a few times  
"5. 4. 3. 2. 1."  
Dylan's eyes fell shut.  
"I want you to imaging that you're at the top of a set of stairs. When you feel like it you'll walk down the stairs. You can take as long as you like. As you walk down them you'll notice that with each step you fall deeper and deeper into a trance. When you are at the bottom of those steps you'll open your eyes again."  
Danny listened to Dylan's breathing becoming calmer and deeper. It took Dylan a full minute to open his eyes and look at Danny.  
"Now I want you look at your hand. If you close your fingers into a fist you'll find that when you try to open them again it won't work and the more you try to open your fingers, the more they stick to each other."  
Dylan closed his fingers and kept looking at his hand. He giggled a little.  
"When I snap my fingers you'll find that suddenly you can open them again." Danny snapped his fingers and Dylan's hand spread out like a fan. Dylan giggled again. Danny smiled with pride.  
"Okay Dylan, I want you to close your eyes again and picture those stairs again. This time you're standing at the bottom of them. In a moment, when you're ready you're going to walk back up them and when you're at the top again you'll feel yourself come out of this trance and open your eyes. You'll feel relaxed and tired but happy."  
It took less than a minute for Dylan to open his eyes again, smile and yawn.  
Danny's grin was plastered all over his face.  
"Well done." Dylan said with pride. He put a hand on Danny's shoulder and smiled "you'll get there Danny."  
Danny smiled back and looked into Dylan's eyes. Those where eyes one could drown in. Where Danny could drown in. But then Dylan blinked and pulled away.  
"Time to hit the hay for me. And next time just ask Lula or Jack if you can practice. Or me of course." Dylan said as he got up and left the kitchen. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder that this fic isn't beta read and could contain some mistakes.


	5. Dylan

The horsemen weren't sure what had happened. Everyone had their own routine in the morning so it wasn't a weird thing not to see someone at breakfast and it wasn't uncommon for Dylan to have lunch at different time, but he usually ate with the others for dinner.   
"Any of you seen Dylan lately?" Danny asked on the second evening without Dylan.   
"Not since movie night" jack said after a moment of thought. Movie night had been Saturday. It was now Monday evening.   
"Not me." Merritt said  
"Not really." Added Lula  
"You think" Danny started "something is wrong?"  
"He probably got carried away reading again." Merritt suggested, but he wasn't sure.   
Danny put his cutlery down "I'm going to have a look,"  
"I'm coming." Jack said  
So am I." Said both Lula and Merritt at the same time.   
They walked to Dylan's room and Danny knocked.   
No answer.  
Danny knocked again.   
Still nothing.   
Merritt tried the door. It wasn't locked. There was Dylan, asleep at his desk with his face on a new blueprint. Some empty plates and cups to one side.  
"At least he didn't forget to eat." Said Lula while Danny looked at the drawings.   
"This... Wow. This looks like a week of work. No wonder he's exhausted."   
"Danny, give me a hand, will you?" Merritt asked insistently. Danny looked up and saw Merritt and Jack attempting to lift Dylan. Danny quickly helped and together they put Dylan in his bed. Dylan snored a couple of times but didn't wake up.   
Now Lula was looking at the drawings "guys... This-this is brilliant."  
Danny, Merritt and Jack joined her back at the desk and looked over the drawings that Dylan had made.   
"What if..." Danny said and took a pencil to make a sketch of his own.   
"That could work, but what if..." Jack said as he picked up a pencil himself.   
"And, how about..." Lula interjected.   
Merritt frowned and took a pencil as well. They quietly talked about the drawings and didn't notice Dylan waking up and watching his horsemen proudly. They really were a fantastic team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. You stayed until the end! I want to quickly thank waitwhatheheck on tumblr for giving me the initial idea and encouraging me to finish this because even though I loved writing it I kinda don't really like this fic. I wanted to put a lot more of my knowledge of magic history in it but it just wouldn't go. I do plan on writing something once I've re-read he book on the history of magic that I own, but for now this is it. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to edit a bit but I struggled very much with it so there could be a few mistakes in there.


End file.
